Chicago’s Henry Gerber House designated a National Historic Landmark

In recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) Pride Month, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the Henry Gerber House in Chicago, Illinois, has been designated a National Historic Landmark, becoming the nation’s second LGBT related property to achieve such recognition. Once the residence of noted gay rights activist Henry Gerber, the home was where the nation’s first chartered LGBT rights organization, the Society for Human Rights, was formed in 1924.

“The National Park Service is America’s storyteller, and it is important that we tell a complete story of the people and events responsible for building this great nation. As we honor the pioneering work of Henry Gerber and the pivotal role this home played in expanding and fighting for equality for all Americans, we help ensure that the quest for LGBT civil rights will be told and remembered for generations to come.”

“The City of Chicago is deeply honored by this historic designation, which will be a fitting tribute to a great civil rights pioneer who fought to make our nation truer to our values of equality and opportunity for all. Henry Gerber was a great Chicagoan who dedicated his life to breaking down barriers of discrimination against LBGT Americans. This designation will help to teach generations of children about his important contributions to our city and our country.”

— Mayor Rahm Emanuel

The Gerber House now becomes one of more than 2,500 noteworthy archaeological and historic properties recognized by theNational Historic Landmarks Program. The Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village is the only other National Historic Landmark listed primarily for its association with LGBT history and heritage.

“The struggles and achievements of Henry Gerber within the walls of this house resonate in the ongoing LGBT civil rights movement. The desire to share his story is part of the National Park Service’s ongoing commitment, as it approaches its Centennial in 2016, to preserve and tell a more complete, inclusive, and diverse history of our country.”

— National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis

The house also served as the headquarters and meeting place for the Society for Human Rights. The Society’s members held lectures, published a newsletter that was the earliest-documented gay-oriented periodical in the country, and worked to change the minds of legal and political authorities. They hoped to challenge, through educational programs and community outreach, the contemporary discourse that discriminated against LGBT people.

The Society’s chartered status and newsletter were unprecedented in the history of the gay rights movement in the U.S. and preceded better-known efforts by more than two decades. Although the house was the site of the earliest documented efforts toward LGBT emancipation, the social and political climate led to the swift dissolution of the Society in 1925 after police arrested Henry Gerber and several other members. Although no warrant was produced, Mr. Gerber was taken into custody and his belongings confiscated. The organization’s collapse illustrates substantial obstacles in the struggle for civil rights.